I don't know about other people, but when I watch movies and TV Shows about some sort of Apocalyptic Event that has created TEOTWAWKI, I not only watch for the entertainment value, but also as a mental discussion of whether or not the choices made by the characters in the show are ones that I would make in the same scenario.

SPOILERS BELOW! YOU'VE BEEN WARNED!

Now, first off, ever since Doomsday Preppers, preppers have been popping up in film for the large and small screen, more often. Heck, the movie Trolls had a prepper in it called Branch. Most times, the prepper is portrayed as some sort of crazy person only out to protect themselves. And, for the most part, they never get past that stereotype during the film. In Trolls, Branch eventually gets out of this prepper slump and becomes colorful, like the rest of the trolls. If you went to the store to find a Branch prepper troll, you won't find one. You will only find the colorful Branch, even though he spent 90% of the movie in gray and black. I think Branch, the prepper troll, should be more celebrated than the colored Branch, because he was right the entire time throughout the movie, even if no one heeded his warnings.

Now, back to the small screen. The hottest show on TV is The Walking Dead. Zombie Apocalypse are usually big when there is a political backlash against government control. But, that's for another article. The Walking Dead, barely touched on preppers, just a couple instances that I can remember. One was found dead in a tree and the other one left his boat for others to attempt to get to. Nothing really to talk about with that. However, The Walking Dead spun off Fear The Dead.

Fear The Dead starts off pre-Apocalypse and basically shows what would happen in a Martial Law situation and how most people would not be prepared for a shut down of electricity and food transportation, let alone a zombie out break. The show follows Madison and her family as she does her best to destroy more worlds than Rick did in The Walking Dead.

The Late Prepper

As the events start to unfold, we are introduced to a kid named Tobias. Tobias has been listening to HAM radio and knows that the SHTF. He, unfortunately, doesn't have any adult help to get him through TEOTWAWKI. He determines that his best bet is to hide out in the school where Madison works. The school has plenty of canned food and other supplies. It is large enough to hide in, without worrying about attracting attention. And, until Madison shows up, it was working for Tobias. Hopefully Tobias survived past the horrors of the break down of the city and the military firebombing everything, but it we don't know. Rumors are that he is still alive.

Now, the good thing about Tobias is, he knew his limitations and he knew where resources were. This would be important in TEOTWAWKI. But, he ran in to Madison and she's about as helpful as a bear trap on your leg. Every prepper, whether in the city or country, should be aware of their surroundings and where supplies can be had.

Rich Prepper

In the first season, we meet Strand. Strand is an enigma as we don't know if he is good or bad. However, he knows how to manipulate people. After the fall of the city, Nick (druggy son of Madison the Destroyer) manages to hook up with Strand, because somehow he believes a junkie will be great at surviving. Well, amazingly, he is right. Now, Strand isn't a prepper in the real sense. He is a grifter/con man who is always moving from destination to destination, making connections. What makes him a bit of a prepper is that he keeps his house fully stocked with food and supplies and he also has a yacht. A very large yacht. The yacht is also stocked. But, for the most part, Strand is only prepared for his next port of call, which could be a few weeks out.

But, he does posses one key thing that all preppers need; knowledge. In Strand's case, he has the knowledge to manipulate people and connections everywhere that he can use to try and find a safe place. Even if you didn't manage to get all of your supplies or your plan A and plan B failed, with the right knowledge, you can move onto a new plan of survival in TEOTWAWKI.

Island Prepper Family

In the second season, we came upon the first prepper mentioned. A park ranger on an island with his family. He has a small garden and other supplies that look like he could last about 3 weeks before going to the mainland. They try to pretend that they never go to the main land, but it is obvious to the discerning eye that this is not the case. Anyway, things are going well for this family, until Madison and her brood show up and try to convince the wife that she's unhappy and she should leave. Madison and crew leave the island with the prepper family now down to the surviving boys. Yeah...the wife is not a "prisoner" anymore, she's dead, with her daughter and her husband. Thanks Madison and your druggy son!

Anyway, these people can be classified as a mini-homestead preppers. They had a great start, but their resources would be extremely limited on the island. The main land was close, but that also means it was close enough for others to see them. They only had a small rifle and one pistol as defense (granted, it is California). Their gardens were way too small for a family of 5, but they had plenty of room to grow. However, I am not sure how well their gardens could do being on an island in the ocean.

Ranch TEOTWAWKI

In season 3 we finally meet a full blown prepper! And of course, he's a snake oil salesman, an abusive drunk and a downright horrible person. Jeremiah Otto saw the collapse back in the mid-1990s. He's had the vision, prior to Y2K to start a prepper information video series, that came with your own starter kit bucket. This guy was a visionary! So, of course, he's gonna be your basic bad guy underneath who treats anyone who isn't of the same inclination as second class citizen, third class if he didn't like your skin color. He also managed to be married a couple of times, one of which was also a drunk and they sired a sociopath for a son.

Anyway, Jeremiah managed to find three like minded men and they built the Broke Jaw Ranch as a prepper compound. A prepper compound that any prepper would have tons of issues with.

1. For starters, from day one, they had an animus relationship with their neighbors, which happens to be an Native American reservation he bought the land from. Do not buy land if the neighbors are going to give you trouble.
2. The land is in a valley. The hills above make it easy for the ranch to be surround on all sides. Might as well just put yourself in a fish barrel.
3. The land has water issues. We don't find this out until the last episode, but it is an obvious problem.
4. There are a limited number of dwellings for permanent preppers and almost all of the preppers who show up are living in tents and motorhomes
5. There is a gate at the main road. There is no fence that surrounds the property and security is easily breached. They are just lucky a zombie horde didn't just walk over the mountain.

On top of the issues with the plan for the ranch and the people who show up during TEOTWAWKI, there are other issues. Jeremiah does have a community bunker with a ton of supplies. However, it seems that everyone can come and go. It takes events to happen before the guns are locked up. Heck, Jeremiah even walks in Madison on the first day she's at the ranch. This doesn't sound like a man who planned things out. This comes to bite them in the butt later as well. Also, the majority of the preppers who show up, apparently don't even have their own weapons or plan on helping out with protecting the ranch. This is left to a small group of men led by the sociopath son. Brilliant!

I could go on, but it is evident that Hollywood can only write preppers as people to be mocked or scorned.

What are your thoughts?